Sorvian
Classification and Dialects Phonology Consonants Vowels *Any vowel can be lengthened. *All possible diphthongs are allowed keeping in mind vowel harmony. Phonotactics Onset: *Anything *j can be used to palatize any consonant except the laterals *Laterals never appear at the beginning of a cluster */χ/, affricates, and /h/ never cluster *Other than this, consonants can geminate freely (rr = /r/) Nucleus: *Any vowel or diphthong *j can be used, but it's pronounced /i/ Coda: *Same rules as the onset, but clustering is reversed *Other than this, consonants can geminate freely (rr = /r/) With these rules in mind, Sorvian spelling is phonetic. Vowel Harmony A word with only neutral vowels is considered front. Consonant Gradation When endings are added to nouns or adjectives, causing a open syllable to become closed, some consonants change. The changed sound is weak, whereas the unchanged is strong. © = consonant, (v) = vowel. Stress Stress always falls on the initial syllable in Sorvian. Writing System Grammar Nouns Nouns in Sorvian decline according to number, definiteness, and case, in that order. Note that the vowel of a suffix will change to fit vowel harmony. Number There are five grammatical numbers in Sorvian. They are made by attaching a suffix to the weak stem of a noun. Definiteness The only article in Sorvian is the negative article, meaning none of the item. It is represented by attaching the suffix -dää to the weak stem of a noun, AFTER the number. *sözedää - no man *sözejdää - no men *sözejädää - no groups of men *sözejödää - no total of men (rarely used) *sözejäydää - no total of groups of men (rarely used) Case There are eleven noun cases in Sorvian. They are represented by attaching a suffix to the weak stem of a noun, AFTER the number and article. Note that the negative article -dää does not undergo consonant gradation. ® = repeat last letter. So all together, the word "laaimjaudaansi" would mean: via no total of groups of cars. *Ergative: word stays the same *Absolutive: repeat the last letter *Accusative: +n *Partitive: +än; +ä if word ends in double consonant *Genitive: -© = +en; -(v) = +n *Dative: +m; +e if word ends in a double consonant *Allative: +sä *Ablative: +nä *Locative: +my *Instrumental: +nsi *Translative: +klä *For all of the above, if the initial letter in the suffix is added to a word with a double of that letter at the end, then the initial letter of the suffix is dropped; kess + sä = kessä, lakk + kla = lakkla, zann + n = zann, vemaa + an = vemaan Verbs Conjugation in Sorvian can be clearly split between transitive, intransitive, and passive conjugation. All infinitives end in a double consonant + "i" (-nni, -mmi, -kki, etc.). The verb stem is formed by removing the final two characters. Note that verbs do not undergo consonant gradation. Intransitive *Intransitive verbs have set endings according to subject, subject number, tense, and mood. *All first person endings begin in -en. *All second person endings begin -et. *All third person endings beging in -e. *The following are appended to the personal suffix to agree with number: singular - nothing (-en), plural - j (-enj), paucal - jä (-enjä), collective - jö (-enjö), paucal-collective - jey (-enjey). *For the past tense, the initial "e" in each of the personal endings becomes an "ä" (-än). *For the future tense, the initial "e" in each of the personal endings becomes an "y" (-yn). This is only used to really emphasize the tense. The future tense is almost always omitted otherwise. *Moods ignore tense: The subjunctive has the initial "e" replaced with "eke" (-eken). The imperative has the initial "e" replaced with "esö" (-esön). The interrogative has the initial "e" replaced with "epe" (-epen). Lastly, the potential mood has the "e" replaced with "else" (-elsen). Transitive *Transitive verbs have set endings according to agent, agent number, object, object number, tense, and mood. *Object is conjugated by adding a prefix to the verb: *Other than this, conjugation is the same as intransitive verbs. Passive *Infinitives can be passivised by changing the final -i with -äs (to eat - to be eaten). *To make a conjugated verb passive, -äd- is appended to the stem before other endings (-ädenjö, -ädesöjey, etc.). *The subject (the mouse '''was eaten by the cat) is marked with the absolutive case (duh), the doer (the mouse was eaten by '''the cat) is marked with the ergative case. Aspect Aspect is indicated with auxiliary words following the main verb or infinitive: *czette - perfective *lhoidz - imperfective *alh - negative (alh can attach to infinitives) Adjectives Adjectives always follow the nouns they describe. They agree with number and case with the '''ergative, absolutive, accusative partitive, '''AND '''dative '''cases. All adjectives can become adverbs by simply attaching vi- to the beginning of an adjective. Syntax The heavy inflection of Sorvian gives it some liberties in terms of word order. Transitive and passive sentences usually follow SVO or SOV, and most intransitive sentences usually follow SV. Adjectives follow their nouns, and adverbs follow they adjectives, though they can be anywhere when modifying verbs. Lexicon Sorvian Lexicon